Oak Studio is mining genius on the ‘island of misfits’

1/1/2025

That aphorism is so rife with wisdom that it has been ascribed to the legendary philosopher Lao-Tzu, the Medieval Sephardic rabbi Maimonides, the Communist dictator Mao Zedong, plus the Buddha, the Bible and Native American wind talkers. Everyone wants to claim it. 

Its genius is realizing that charity can be best anticipated by preventing poverty. Maimonides wrote that, advising others to put a person “in the way of business, so that he may earn an honest livelihood and not be forced to the dreadful alternative of holding out his begging cup.” That kind of wisdom is rarely practiced and those who do deserve much praise. 

Oak Studio opened a year and a half ago in Mainframe Studios. In its short life span it has changed lives, like a post graduate education compressed into 18 months by urgency. What is it?

Oak Studio is one of 151 members, in 20 countries, of The Clubhouse Network. That nonprofit organization was created in 1993 by MIT Media Lab employees and funded by Intel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 2012 it partnered with Best Buy to establish “Best Buy Teen Tech Centers.” Oak Studio is one of just 60 of those, designed “to provide creative and safe out-of-school learning environments where young people from underserved communities work with adult mentors to explore their own ideas, develop new skills, and build confidence in themselves through the use of technology.”

As a member of The Clubhouse Network, Oak Studio is loaded with cutting-edge technologies — including tools to help youth explore music and vocal production, audio engineering, digital media, robotics, drones, augmented and virtual reality, 3D printing, graphic design, sewing, engraving and more. Within its comforting walls, teens are able to participate in collaborative and individual projects, training and workshops.

In addition, Oakridge Neighborhood Services, which won the Clubhouse for Des Moines, was awarded the opportunity to join Career Pathways (CP.) That is available to tech center teens who will have the opportunity to vie for one of six internships in a STEAM field. STEM and STEAM are both educational approaches that focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), but STEAM also includes the arts. Oak Studio was the first of the 151 to be granted CP status in its first year. 

All such designations and good intentions are meaningless without the right adult mentors. Oak Studio is the network’s first learning center to get Career Pathways certification because coordinator Derek Frank brought an abundance of skills and connections to the job. 

A native of the Quad Cities, he came to Des Moines from Nashville’s music industry.

“That was happenstance. I also have a consulting business that can work anywhere and my wife got a job here.” 

The fast-tracked Career Pathways designation increased the budget so that Emmett Phillips could be hired. Emmett grew up in Des Moines, went to Roosevelt and graduated from Valley after his family moved to West Des Moines. He worked for Oakridge’s youth development project teaching art and life skills. When he heard about Oak Studio getting a Career Pathways program, “I jumped at the new position that was made available.” 

Emmet is also a hip hop artist, playwright and actor. 

“I try to lead by example. I will be dropping a new album this summer and am producing a play with Grand View University, after winning a National Endowment for the Arts Challenge grant.”

Together Emmett and Derek bring extraordinary skill sets and connections that are fortuitous — because a recurring main interest of students is music production. Derek has connections that are changing lives. Just ask 17-year-old North High School senior Josue Barahoma.

“I have been producing music since I was in sixth grade. I have 35,000 subscribers to my podcasts. I knew I wanted to pursue creating music but I was still looking for my next step when I walked in here. I didn’t know that anything like this existed. I just knew that I wanted to move from producer to artist. I wanted to be a singer but didn’t know how to begin. This place found me some much-needed exposure.” 

Josue writes and sings in both English and Spanish but prefers English. He describes his repertoire as “indy folk” but also dabbles in pop and rock. If you look over his page on Apple Music or Instagram, you’d think his album covers were done by top music industry pros. You’d also think that Josue looks like a teenaged idol: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/josue-barahona/1710926652 (scan QR code to view).

“Emmet found a stage for me at last summer’s Juneteenth Celebration, then at the Des Moines Arts Festival and Riverview Festival. That solidified my belief that I was ready (to be a performer, as well as producer). I had never performed before June 2024, now I open for other, established acts,” Josue said. 

“This place attracts all kinds of happy happenstance like that,” Derek observed.

“Josue now mentors others here through our Career Pathways program,” Emmet added.

When we met in December, Josue had just returned from a trip to Nashville. Through Derek’s connections there, Josue took meetings with Blackbird Studio and Blackbird Academy. Those are legendary places associated with Martina and John McBride and Garth Brooks. 

“Before Oak Studio, I didn’t know what I wanted to do after high school. My plan was to move to L.A. and figure it out.” 

Josue was accepted at Blackbird Academy and will be headed there after he graduates from North this year.

It’s not like Josue didn’t have other options. He’s a straight-A student, and many four-year college scholarships are available to him. His brother is a student at Stanford where he has already launched a start-up company that found its first investors last month. His sister has a bag business in Savannah, with investors behind her. The three entrepreneurial siblings together have formed a real estate company. They bought two houses so far, which they maintain and rent. 

They are children of Salvadoran immigrants. Their dad, whom Josue calls his best teacher, had to drop out of school after third grade. His mom finished high school. 

“They taught us the value of hard work.”

“Not only is Josue multitalented, but his heart is in the right place. He is the first one here to help others when they need it,” Derek added. 

Looking around Oak Studio one sees numerous tools many kids don’t have much access to elsewhere — computers, cameras, a 3D printer, a laser cutter, guitars, professional grade sound and recording studios, podcast recorders with professional apps, a library, etc. 

“Their value is enhanced by the hands-on skills Emmet and I bring,” Derek noted. 

Izzy Kelai has taken advantage of those. A recent graduate of North High School, he calls himself a model, photographer and dancer, “prioritizing portrait photography.” All those skills intermingle in mutual enhancement. 

Professional cameras are available for loan and that allowed Izzy to look at modeling from both sides of the lens. And to create a better portfolio. He’s now worked with insurance companies, the Des Moines Art Center and Mainframe Studios on fashion shows. 

“I met Siricasso, a muralist and teaching artist at the Des Moines Art Center. He made this jacket for me. I worked on a fashion show at Mainframe Studios and now have one planned at Olson-Larsen Gallery. We have a date but no name yet,” he said.

“Izzy won a National Photo contest with a camera he borrowed. He’s really got an eye,” Derek adds.

Oak Studio boasts a brother-sister success story. Amina Muhammad was one of the first to walk through Oak Studio’s doors. She developed her production skills in the studio, made some demos and landed a job as a disc jockey in Chicago. She coaxed her brother Elijah Muhammad to come to Oak Studio.

“I have several projects in the works here. I don’t know yet what I want to do with my life but I am certain that being here is the first step to develop and decide what is next.

“It’s all good. I was in a journalism class. That got interesting when I had to make a podcast. With help from here, I got an A plus for an interview I did with my sister,” Elijah said.

One of Elijah’s projects, with his dad, is to develop a community garden. Property had been secured but the state later tried to reclaim it and their case is in the courts. Meanwhile, Elijah is trying to design and build a specialized water spraying system, from scratch. 

“It’s a sophisticated irrigation system with a “raspberry pie.” That’s a mini computer that is built in,” Derek explained. 

Perhaps the most enthusiastic teens taking advantage of Oak Studio come from Momentum Artist Collective (MAC). MAC provides free studio space for anyone who “self-identifies as having a disability or mental health condition.”

According to their mission statement, MAC strives to dismantle the stigma against mental health and disability in our community. They promote hope and resilience through art. One day when we visited a MAC student burst in with his latest art work and a new song he wrote and wanted to record with Derek. 

We asked Derek and Emmet to describe their students. They laughed. 

“We have introverts coming out of the dark and we have socialites. We have studio rats and most kids just want to be gamers. We have young entrepreneurs. We’re an island of misfits.”